The Tigers were thumped at home after Boro took advantage of their defensive frailties
Hull City head coach Sergej Jakirovic says his side were well beaten on a night where their defensive issues proved their undoing again.
City were taken to pieces in the first half by a rampant Middlesbrough side who scored four unanswered goals to lead 4-0 at the break.
Joe Gelhardt’s second-half penalty ensured City had something to cling to, but the game was long since done, as their defensive frailties were once again exposed.
The four goals Boro plundered at the MKM Stadium took the tally conceded by the Tigers to 34, with only bottom side Sheffield Wednesday having shipped more, and it’s undermining their progress.
At Stoke City on Saturday, Jakirovic told his players at half-time that if they didn’t improve, they should get on the bus home, and his interval sermon was one of defiance here.
“We must play till the end, we cannot surrender,” he said of his half-time message. “That we are stuck together, that at least we try to play with a clean sheet in the second half, try to maybe punish them if we can to score the first goal, second goal if it’s possible, but we were too far away from everything tonight, especially in the first half.
“We gave away too many (goals). Every mistake they punished with a goal, and it’s very difficult to play like this.
“You know already it’s like done, but at least we showed the reaction in the second half, and I can be pleased with what I saw in the second half because we fought till the end, but Middlesbrough were much better than us.
“The first goal, we tried to press them, but we were not compact. Our setup was not good on the right side; we were too far away from the players, especially on the body.
“Regan Slater saved this back pass in the middle, but unfortunately, the ball bounced to a Middlesbrough player, and he scored easily. Then the second goal we did, I think a technical mistake.
“From what I remember, in the third goal, maybe it’s a foul on Slater, from what I saw on the tablet, but what can we do? The fourth goal killed us. It’s too many mistakes at this level.
“It was too easy in the build-up in open play that you are not able to play a calm 10 metre pass without pressure, or we are five against three with (Ivor) Pandur, and we cannot play through them or around them, so that was tonight’s big problem for us.”
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